Rick rebuffed by Obama on border troops.

Yesterday I wrote about Kay's ambivalence about Rick's call for 1,000 additional troops on the border (link). Her handlers swiftly swooped in and tried to clear things up after the comments.

Obama looks like he's rejecting Rick's request, if the venerable Fort Worth Star Telegram, America's paper of record, is correct (link). Excerpt follows:

In a recent visit to El Paso, Gov. Rick Perry called for 1,000 troops to protect the border.

Spokeswoman Katherine Cesinger said the governor’s office is still awaiting an official response from Washington on his request to Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano for more Guard troops.

"We haven’t heard anything official, but we are certainly hopeful we’ll get the help we need," she said. "He’s [Perry] not suggesting that we militarize the border. He’s asking for additional boots on the ground."

In a Feb. 26 letter to Napolitano, a former Arizona governor, Perry requested 1,000 National Guard troops to help combat drug smuggling, along with six OH-58 helicopters with infrared radar for night operations. Perry has also asked the Legislature to provide additional funding for Operation Border Star, a multiagency law enforcement offensive.

Obama was cautious, however.

"We’ve got a very big border with Mexico," the president said in the interview. "I’m not interested in militarizing the border."

A few weeks back, Rick was all excited about Janet Napolitano, a fellow border governor, when she was becoming Homeland Security Secretary. Rick said she might understand the border security issue. Napolitano might have just been dropped off of Rick's Christmas card list, no thanks to her boss.